Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy Gibbon” Beta Release Now Available

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The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the beta release of Ubuntu 7.10 and its variants, Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu. Codenamed “Gutsy Gibbon”, 7.10 continues Ubuntu’s proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.

Ubuntu 7.10 on the desktop features a cutting-edge graphical experience with composited desktop effects, fully automated printer installation, and superior support for Firefox browser plugins.

Printer installation: In GNOME, printers are automatically configured for use as soon as they are connected.

Free Flash support with Gnash: Ubuntu 7.10 leads the pack with a preview of this Flash browser plugin. Although still actively in development and not yet fully supported by Ubuntu, Gnash gives a glimpse into the future of free Flash, bringing partial Flash support to 64-bit desktop systems.

Automated Firefox plugin installation: Beyond the addition of Gnash, Firefox in Ubuntu now supports automatic installation of popular plugins through the standard Ubuntu package repositories, for a richer web-browsing experience with the integrated security support of the rest of the Ubuntu system.

AppArmor: This easy-to-deploy kernel technology limits the resources an application is allowed to access and can be used to provide an added layer of protection against undiscovered security vulnerabilities in applications.